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On Friday, Oct. 6, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner celebrated National Manufacturing Month with a visit to Hoffer Plastics Corp. (South Elgin, IL), where he kicked off his October “Built in Illinois Month” tour. He spent the afternoon at the Hoffer Plastics facilities and had the opportunity to meet and talk with employees from many different parts of the company.

Manufacturing is the second largest industry in Illinois, with more than 12,000 firms employing nearly 600,000 Illinoisans. Ninety-two percent of the state’s exports are manufactured products.

Hoffer Plastics is a family owned and operated, third-generation custom plastics injection molding manufacturer. It produces millions of plastic parts annually for a range of industries and end uses such as food and beverage packaging, automotive, personal care, consumer, industrial and aeronautics. Hoffer Plastics also prides itself on being an innovator in environmental sustainability.

The company has its own onsite power generation plant and has a legacy of giving back generously to the community. It enjoys an exceptionally high employee satisfaction and retention rate. The average employee tenure at the company is 14 years, and there are several multi-generational employee families. Founded in 1953, Hoffer Plastics won the 2015 Illinois Governor’s Sustainability Award and was a recent Plastics Caps & Closures Innovation Award finalist for its Trust-T-Lok plastic closure.

“We are honored to have Governor Rauner visit us and talk about manufacturing and workforce development,” said President and CEO William Hoffer. “It is an important part of our mission to develop our employees as well as retain the ones we have. We were honored to have him here and hopefully we can work together on improving the employment situation in our area and certainly within the state.”

Hoffer Plastics takes pride in its company values of “family, service, integrity and trust” and in fostering a culture where “employees are treated like family.”

Gov. Rauner acknowledged that it's hard for families to start a business and take risks. "Most of them fail. It's tough," he said. Rauner said the Hoffer family took the risks associated with starting a business and had success in building and growing the company into a global manufacturing firm. “You guys are a great team," he said.

Governor Rauner’s “Built in Illinois” month tour will continue across the state through the month of October. He ended his visit to Hoffer Plastics by awarding the company with a proclamation for “Built in Illinois” month in recognition of its role and contributions as a longstanding manufacturer and employer as well as industry and community leader.